House of Holland Womenswear S/S12

It was a tougher girl than in previous collections at the House of Holland show, inspired by the skins and punk of the 70s, with a strong feeling coming through that looked back to 'This is England' and the photographs of Gavin Watson. High-waisted bleached denim with zip detailing was a common occurrence, firmly cementing that tough girl look. Snake skin was also seen throughout the collection, appearing on collars, sleeves and jeans adding a glammed up but still punk and DIY aesthetic.

Other prints included leopard, also seen on the entire catwalk and a large amount of colour fade silk and chiffon tops. Adding a technicality laser cut leather appeared in a number of forms, from off the shoulder dresses to vest tops that had a string feel to them. Overall the collection felt like a step forwards for Henry, while House of Holland is still very much about fun and being lighthearted, this season feels like the House of Holland 'nice girl' might not still be so nice.

Dazed Digital: What has been the best part of the day?Henry Holland: Just finally seeing the girls looks come together with the hair and make up. It's a really strong collection and has been a lot of hard work, so seeing it all pull together has been great.

DD:What were the inspirations for the looks?Henry Holland: The skins from the late 70s and early 80s, more than the kind of newer Camden punks. You have got the ska influence in there, and the We Are Desperate book was a big reference.

DD: What about the palette?Henry Holland: Because we had such a tough starting point we pulled the palette back to femininity with super girly colours against the more androgynous silhouette. We made that contrast again with the quite hard hair and make up on super super pretty girls.

DD: Do you have someone in mind when designing?Henry Holland: It was kind of an amalgamation of all the references from the skins books and the way the girls shave their heads but leave little wisps, so they still look stunningly beautiful.

DD: What were the key pieces for you?Henry Holland: We reworked the House of Holland tartan into three different colour ways so there was the pastel tartans which I loved. I was also into the laser cut leather which we did in the evening wear towards the close of the show. It was nappa skins that were laser cut to look almost like string vests. Then we had the python skin details as well, which just felt really us.